Many people will be foregoing their family vacations this year because of the current economic climate.Others, however, are determined to enjoy a vacation, but are looking for ways to save money while still having a great trip.

Flexibility is probably the main key to saving on a vacation. Investigate several possible scenarios for you and your family. You will then be able to choose the one that’s right for you and your budget. Consider alternate sites for your vacation. Be flexible with travel times, especially if you are flying. You can often save hundreds of dollars just by switching a flight from Sunday, a very busy day, to Tuesday, the slowest day for the airlines.

Visit websites for airlines, hotels, and local points of interest and register for e-mail notification of special offers, etc. Also, consider contacting a local travel agent. Although they earn a fee, they often have access to better deals than you can obtain on your own so that, in the long run, they can save you money.

Consider driving to your destination. This eliminates airline costs and, with gas prices much lower this year, the savings could be substantial. Also, pack a lunch, snacks, etc. for the trip and you’ll be able to avoid restaurant costs while traveling.

If you plan to use frequent flyer points to book a flight, it is necessary that you plan very early. Popular flights are often full months in advance for the allowable number of seats that can be occupied by frequent flyers.

By planning your vacation during the “off peak” season, you can save on almost every aspect of it. Often the weather is still very enjoyable, hotel rates should be down, and restaurants will most likely be offering lower prices for meals.

We are all anxiously awaiting a housing recovery so that home values and sales will increase and this turnaround will, hopefully, help pull us out of the current recession. The government is offering an $8,000 incentive to new homebuyers (and those who have not owned a home for three years) and, yet, people are still unsure if they want to take the risk. Everyone knows someone who has been through a foreclosure on their home, and no one else wants to go through this heartbreak and major financial setback. The Real Estate Industry and a number of homebuilders and developers are offering a solution to those people who are hesitating to commit to a home for fear of losing their jobs.

One major national real estate chain has developed a job loss protection plan for buyers. The seller of the home purchases the protection for a flat fee of $500 and includes it with the sale of their property. If the buyers lose their jobs within the first two years after they purchase the home, the plan will pay up to $1,800 per month for six months towards their mortgage payments. So many people are living in fear of losing their jobs that this extra insurance may be the extra incentive necessary to help them decide to purchase their new home.

A local builder is offering a similar program but his pays up to $1,500 per month and it is included in the price of the home.

I am certain that many real estate offices and builders will begin offering plans of this type to potential buyers in the hope of removing the stress and worry of job loss while instilling confidence in them to move ahead with the purchase of homes being offered at very competitive prices with low interest rates.

The economy is in a crisis situation and the costs of everything are rising and falling at record speeds. People are having a great deal of trouble finding the funds to pay for the necessities of life, most especially energy costs. Not very long ago everyone was talking about the price of gasoline on a daily basis. Once gas prices went over $4.00 per gallon, consumers everywhere were trying to find ways to cut back. Many were even canceling planned visits to family and delaying vacations. Car pooling became temporarily very popular although I do believe, even with the current drop in prices, people are still giving a good deal of thought to their travel plans.

The costs of electric have also been skyrocketing and have not shown signs of slowing down recently. The Energy Department has stated that heating oil prices have been greatly reduced since last winter, but are, again, on the rise with a very large increase since February. Homeowners are looking for ways to fight back and many are taking advantage of the opportunity to lock in the price of power for from one to two years. This, of course, is wonderful for budgeting your finances and enables you to calculate in advance what size bill you should be expecting. The problem, however, is what will happen if the cost of electric becomes less and you are locked into a higher price? You cannot simply request the lower price as you have signed a commitment and must honor it.

An example of locking in prices that did not work out well is a heating oil supplier in the New England area who offered to lock-in prices to his customers last summer, when fuel was more than $4.00 per gallon. Many people signed a contract because they were afraid of just how high the price could go. By the middle of last winter, the price was approximately $2.00 per gallon and many expected the dealer to cut his prices to them. The dealer, however, had a similar fixed-price with his wholesaler, and had guaranteed that he would purchase a specific amount of oil at the fixed price. It was not possible for him to accommodate all of the requests he received from his customers for lower prices. Unfortunately, this offer, which was meant to improve the dealer’s relationships with his customers, actually backfired and left many customers feeling cheated, although the dealer did not do anything wrong.

Americans have found numerous ways to cut their expenses during the current recession. We have readjusted our thinking as to what we actually need, and have learned to cut back on many everyday expenses. Our children are also learning to make do with less, and these lessons seem to be very good for everyone. Families are spending more quality time together and children are again learning to play with others in an unstructured way. The real question is, when the economy improves, will we return to our old purchasing patterns, or will we stick with the new ones we are currently using?

Many consumers who have been questioned about this, truly believe that they will continue with the lessons they have recently learned about living with less. The “green” movement also contributes to this new attitude. We are all re-evaluating our excessive lifestyles and realizing that frequently, less is more.

During the Great Depression, 25% to 30% of the workforce was unemployed. It became necessary that people adjusted to living meagerly and, in many cases, this continued throughout the years, as they were always saving their money and being very careful about any purchases they made. They would save for years in order to purchase a car or new appliance for cash. They didn’t want anything to do with credit and believed they should only purchase what they could afford at that time. The only exception was probably a home.

Today’s consumers have been learning new ways to save on an almost daily basis. Coupons have become a way of life and many of us will not shop unless there are good sales being offered. I recently visited the local library and was surprised to see that they have a coupon box at the circulation desk, available for their patrons. This is just one more new little way that people are helping one another to save.

Although consumers may gradually return to restaurants and upgrade some of their purchases, it is thought they will remain more conscious of their spending habits. The area most likely to be hurt will probably be the purchase of luxury items. It may take a long time before we are ready to return to the true luxuries we have had in the past.

Inflation is up, prices are rising rapidly, and people are being furloughed from their jobs, resulting in lower salaries. How do you make ends meet when you are earning less and everything costs more? One suggestion might be to find a source of additional income to help balance your budget. Several possibilities follow:

Pet sitting and pet walking can pay well and take up very little of your time. If your neighbors are working full time and the family pet is home alone all day, they might well be happy to compensate you for taking their pet for a walk mid-day. Others may be going away and need someone to care for their animals. Many pet owners today much prefer to leave pets in their own homes, as opposed to bringing them to kennels. Frequently, kennels cost even more than you would charge. For the cost of an ad in the local paper, you may be able to start-up a business and add additional funds to your budget.

If you have a specific skill, consider teaching a course or running a workshop to share with others. Many places such as YMCAs, local churches, and adult-education programs offer courses and would be willing to compensate you.

Run errands for local people who are short on time. Charge by the hour and you can do their grocery shopping, pick-up dry cleaning, water plants, etc. Whatever needs to be done, you can be available.

Get paid for your opinion. Market research firms will often compensate you for providing feedback on a variety of subjects such as buying habits and reporting to a group to discuss product reliability.

Selling from home (yours or a friend’s) is another option. This would be the equivalent of selling Avon, Southern Living At Home products, or Tastefully Simple food products. All of these can be financially rewarding and can often be done in additional to your current job.

Selling your belongings online or at consignment shops will help you to eliminate clutter and add funds to your bank account. If you find that you really enjoy this, you may want to purchase items for resale as a means of increasing your income.

These are just a few of the ways you can supplement your income while not committing too much of your time. There are others such as tutoring children, part time jobs, and renting out a room or rooms in your home.

If you were to lose your job tomorrow, how long could you survive without your income? This, of course, depends on how well-prepared you are financially. Even if you feel secure in your current position, it is still a good idea to cut expenses and put away that extra money for a “rainy day”, no matter what form it takes.

Here are some ways to increase savings without too many sacrifices on the part of you and your family:

Consider canceling your private mortgage insurance (PMI) as this may no longer be necessary. If you made a 20 percent down payment on your home, or your equity totals 20% or more, contact your bank and request that this insurance be discontinued. Some people go on paying this premium for years without realizing that it is no longer necessary.

An energy audit and some small changes around your home could help reduce your monthly utility costs by 20% to 25%. Weather strip, caulk, consider plastic covers over windows if they are not double pane, and insulate the attic. All of these can help realize a substantial monthly savings.

Examine cell phone costs and be sure your family has the best plan for them. If you are paying approximately $20 a month for text messaging, discontinue it and tell the family to dial their friends instead.

Food shopping should always be done once a week. Every time you make an extra visit to the grocery store, you will always leave with more than the one or two items you went shopping for. Plan your meals for the week, purchase necessary items only, and do not return to the store until the following week.

Lunch out costs an average of $7.00 per day. If you eat out everyday, that’s $35 per week. If your spouse is also eating out, that amounts to a large portion of your budget. Consider eating out only once a week.

There are many ways to save when shopping and one is to visit the Dollar Store. You can find many toiletries and cleaning supplies for only $1.00 when they are usually three to four times that much in the grocery store. Visit once and you will probably return.

Potluck dinners and at home games or videos are a great and inexpensive way to entertain friends.

Plan vacations near home and make day trips to the many local sites that you have never visited.

Share child care with friends. Everyone gets some free time and there are no babysitting expenses.

Speak to your doctor about the possibility of you switching to generic drugs if medication is necessary.These are available at a fraction of the cost of the name brand drugs and are often just as effective. If a brand name is necessary for your medical needs, and if you financially qualify, they can be available for free from the manufacturer.

Plan nights out attending free local concerts. Check schedules at both parks and nearby universities to see what is available in your area.

Green is the “in” thing to do, but conserving on your home heating costs is also smart budgeting. $1,400 a year is the amount an average family pays for energy bills. It is, however, possible to save 20% of this amount if you take certain steps to cut back on your heating costs.

It is extremely important that you seal your home. Cracks in the basement or attic may be causing heat to escape and higher heating bills. Your heater is probably working overtime if you have these cracks. Begin sealing these cracks and, if you need assistance as to what you should be doing, visit energystar.gov for advice.

Keeping your air filter clean is very important. Many products say that you should change them every three months. The truth is that it will be beneficial to you to change them every month. This will help you to get rid of the dirt that is the main source of system failures.

Heating systems that are more than 15 years old generally need to be replaced. It is imperative that the new system be the right size for your home as a system that is too big will simply mean extra operating costs.

If you need to have work done on your heating system, hire a professional to be sure that everything is done right and will work to your advantage.

In today’s economy, it is almost impossible to even think of requesting a raise in salary as more and more of your co-workers are being laid off. There is, however, a possibility that this raise may actually be available if you request it.

In times such as these, a trusted, extremely productive employee is very valuable to a company. Frequently, your workload has doubled due to layoffs and your employer can appreciate this fact. This is not an unreasonable time to ask for an increase but, first, you must do your research.

Research the web to find out what comparable employees are paid at other companies. Check sites such as salaryexpert.com and salary.com to determine equivalent jobs in your area of the country.

Be prepared to document all of your achievements. It is important that you have won awards and participated in mentoring young employees, but focus on what you have done to improve the bottom line. Employers today consider the “bottom line” to be the ultimate improvement. Prepare yourself to document what you have done to improve this number or to cut expenses. Either of these accomplishments are the way to an increase.

Sit down with your manager and discuss what he feels you need to do to get a higher salary. Then set a future date for discussing your accomplishments leading towards this goal. This date should be set at three to six months away.

The current economic crisis demands that all large companies review their costs and find ways to cut them as much as possible. One of the areas being targeted by large corporations today is absenteeism. JC Penney is working diligently with their employees in an effort to cut employee absences and the expenses they entail.

Hundreds of our country’s largest employers have estimated that unscheduled absences cost them over $750,000 a year in payroll. Costs are much greater, however, when you take into account lost revenue and lower productivity. Excessive absenteeism also results in lower employee morale, which eventually also affects the bottom line.

JC Penney is trying to resolve their absenteeism problem through a new program they’ve set up. The program is called Power Line and is made up of a team of employees. Any employee who will be out of work for three or more days will contact the Power Line group and the group will determine the type of benefit the employee is entitled to. If forms are necessary, these will be provided to the employee. The team then notifies the employee’s store directly. The Power Line employee follows-up with the absent employee and continues to do so until this person returns to work. Although this new system has only been in use for the past 90 days, the store believes that they are already seeing positive results.

This is just one of the many areas being investigated today to determine how else corporate expenses can be lowered. If major companies want to survive in these troubling times, they will have to make every effort to cut costs while still providing exceptional customer service.

Many people today are making their funeral arrangements in advance so that everything will be in accordance with their wishes and their families do not have to struggle through the process while grieving the loss of a loved one. These contracts are called pre-need and are sold to many with the idea that they can pay today’s prices for a product that will not be used, hopefully, for sometime. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Consider the following before entering into such a contract:

Carefully review the fine print of the contract. Know that some items in the agreement are guaranteed while others may not be. Specifically request to have these items explained to you in detail. Guaranteed prices will not be increased; however, non-guaranteed prices may be included in the contract even though they can be increased when the death actually occurs.

It is always a good idea to have a third party review a contract before signing it. You may bring the contract home with you and have it reviewed by a family member or an attorney. Taking the time to do this now can save both money and aggravation for your loved ones.

Most survivors do not understand the contracts. They believe that everything is paid for in advance and then learn that this is not the case. Pre-need contracts often cause families more problems at the time of death than if no arrangements had been made. Because it is necessary that many non-guaranteed items be included in a pre-need contract, you might want to consider an alternative. Visit your local bank or credit union to inquire about a Totten Trust account. A Totten account is payable-on-death to the named beneficiary. This account remains in your name and you earn interest on the account. You are free to move or close the account at will as you have no contractual obligations and the funds will be immediately available to your beneficiary.